T(homas) S(igismund) Stribling William T. Going - Essay

William T. Going

As Stribling himself has stated, his aim in the novels [of The Vaiden Trilogy] was historical: "Each generation quickly and completely forgets its forebears. I was filled with a profound sense of tragedy that my own family, my neighbors, the whole South surrounding me would be utterly lost in the onrushing flood of years…."

To achieve so large a tapestry Stribling resorts to a heavily plotted novel. There are at least three separate, ingeniously dovetailed, struggles in The Store [the second novel in the trilogy]. (p. 17)

Stribling has always been skillful in designing and interweaving patterns of struggle. His long interest in adventure and detective fiction is...